Ashiteru
by azerath.metrion
Summary: Beast Boy and Raven are trapped on the TTower roof due to Beast Boy's forgetfulness and Cyborg's new security device. But, hey, it's alright. After all, what could possibly go wrong? ...Oneshot


**Ashiteru**

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor am I affilliated with the owners of, _Teen Titans_

"Come _on,_ Raven! Please?"

"No."

"_Pretty _please?"

"No."

"_Pretty pretty _please?"

"Beast Boy...!"

"Aw, why _not_?"

Raven glared at Beast Boy openly. They were stuck on the roof of the T-Tower at midnight because of him, and he expected her to do _that_? Beast Boy transformed into a tiny green and black striped kitty. With big, pleading eyes, he loosed a pitiful mew, apparently trying to woo her into doing as he asked.

"That only works on Starfire," she reminded him tonelessly. He transformed back with a sigh.

"Why won't you just _smile?"_ He grumbled defeatedly. "It's not going to kill you! You don't even have to mean it." Raven ignored him, wrapping her cloak around her more tightly as cold wind tore at it. Beast Boy glared at her for a moment before continuing his attack. "Raven, we're going to be here for a long time. The least you can do is make it comfortable."

"You're the one who got us stuck up here in the first place."

"How was I supposed to know that Cyborg's new security system would put the _entire_ Tower under complete lockdown every night? I thought the roof would be okay!"

"Showing exactly how little common sense you actually have." Beast Boy grumbled irritably.

"Well why'd you follow me in the first place if you knew it would lock at ten?" He shot back, sitting on the edge of the roof and watching the waves slap the rocks rhythmically below him. Raven looked away.

"I don't know," she answered truthfully. "I suppose I had a momentary lapse of stupidity." Beast Boy clenched his fist for a second, then drew one knee up, wrapping his arm around it.

"You have a weird way of skirting a question."

"I have a weird way with everything." Beast Boy turned around in time to see Raven's cloak flap around the corner of the shed in the middle of the roof. He shrugged to himself; let her go mope about on her own. It didn't bother him any at all.

After a few minutes, he laid back on the roof, staring up at the stars. He drew in and released a deep breath, rolling over on his side. Then he sat up again and looked over at the shed. Raven still had not returned. With a groan he stood up and made his way over to the shed, being careful to make as little noise as possible. Rounding the corner, he found Raven lying on her stomach, her face turned to the side and resting on her arms. Her cloak was wrapped tightly around her body, but she was still shivering in the cold air above the Tower. For a moment Beast Boy just stood there, looking at her. In another small breeze, Raven's soft purple hair lifted around her face, brushing lightly against her forehead and ears. Beast Boy found himself wondering why he had invited Raven, of all people, to come with him to the roof. _I wanted to show her Orion's Belt_, he reminded himself silently. _Robin's seen it plenty of times, and Star would bore me with silly memories of visiting it, and Cyborg would... um... Why _didn't_ I invited Cyborg?_ With a tiny, suppressed sigh, Beast Boy finally admitted something he'd been pondering a lot lately.

He liked Raven. He liked her a _lot._

As he stood there contemplating this and why he'd been so reluctant to admit it to even himself, Raven cracked open one eye and saw him. She was instantly up, glaring at him.

"Beast Boy!" She snapped, blushing slightly. "Are you spying on me?"

"Spying?" Beast Boy asked, offended. "On what? Your snoring? Or possibly that little trail of drool blazing down your chin?" Raven blushed deeper, rubbing her chin to find that he had been lying. Angrily, Raven levitated a foot off the roof, then flew to sit on top of the shed.

"Go away!" She called down to Beast Boy, who was mentally smacking himself for being so rude. "I'm trying to sleep!"

"Raven!" Beast Boy called into the silence. She ignored him, of course. He sighed and slid down the side of the shed. "I'm sorry, Raven," he muttered as he sat on the roof again, not nearly loud enough for her to hear. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

After a while, he wondered if she had cooled off a little. Deciding to take a chance, he flew to the top of the shed as a hawk, then landed as himself again. Raven was huddled on her side under her cloak in the middle of the shed's roof, shivering even harder; it was much colder up here. Refusing to think about what he was doing, to fend off any second thoughts, he transformed into a bear and ambled over to her sleeping body.

Careful not to wake her for fear of a repeat, he skirted around her, then crawled a couple feet to lie against her back. She sighed and shifted a bit, but did not wake up. Beast Boy relaxed, and rested his head on a massive forepaw, closest to Raven. A few minutes later, when Raven's subconscious noticed the warmth of his body and she cuddled closer into his fur, he did not move, though his heart was racing. Raven rolled onto her back, then her other side, meaning she now faced Beast Boy.

_Oh, crap!_ He thought worriedly. _If she wakes up now she'll be so mad!_ But still he made no move to get up, and Raven entwined her fingers into the fur of his side. After a while Beast Boy began to drift off into sleep, barely noticing when he turned back into himself. Soon he was sleeping soundly, undisturbed by the newfound lack of warmth slowly affecting Raven's body and waking her.

As she awoke, Raven knew that she was lying with someone, but she was still too groggy to put two and two together. When it finally clicked, four went screaming through her mind on a rampage full of fireworks and hard rock music. Sitting up abruptly, she found that she was lying with Beast Boy, who was snoozing peacefully. Blushing, Raven realized that her arm had been resting on his side, and that the only reason she had not been cold was that he had laid with her. Her other arm had been curled up between their two bodies, and her legs had been pressed against his. His right arm was curled like a pillow under his head, but his left had been around her shoulders; when she had sat up it had fallen to the roof. Raven's heart beat like a hammer in her chest. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Beast Boy gave a small grunt in his sleep; _He must be dreaming,_ she thought idly to herself.

Finally, it occurred to Raven that it was not nearly morning yet, and that if she wished to survive the cold night she had no choice but to continue lying with him. She glanced at his sleeping face and almost smiled; he was so much more agreeable when unconscious. He looked peaceful and fragile, though Raven knew that under his purple and black uniform there were many strong muscles. Raven closed her eyes, shivering uncontrollably in the cold wind, but knowing that she needed a moment to collect herself before lying back down. When she opened them again, it was to look into Beast Boy's own open eyes.

"You're shivering again," Beast Boy whispered softly. When Raven just stared at him, he blushed deeply and looked away, mumbling, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have... I mean, I should have asked you first, but you were sleeping, and... You just looked so cold." He sat up as well, looking away. "I mean, I can go, if you want, but it's really cold, and you shouldn't... You might freeze, and that would be bad. I mean, for the team and everything." Raven blushed.

"It's okay," she replied softly, looking at the many pebbles under her hands on the metal roof of the shed. "I was cold. Thank you. I mean, if it makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to stay, you can go lie on the other side or something. It doesn't bother me much." Beast Boy laughed.

Looking back at her kindly, he told her, "Raven, can't you admit to some sort of weakness? You were shivering! That's why I came over here, I wanted to warm you up." Realizing what he had said, he quickly added, "I mean, you know, I didn't want you to get sick or anything, and since it is my fault and everything I thought I should..." He allowed his sentence to trail off, blushing even more than he had earlier. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry. For what I said earlier; about you being weird. I didn't mean it. I mean," he grinned reluctantly, "if anyone's weird, it's me. I'm the only being I know that can change into different animals; at least you know others from Azarath that have the same powers. Not to mention all the lame jokes I keep spouting. I know they're not really funny." He sighed and stood up, carefully removing his shirt and gloves. "Here; these will keep you warmer. You should put them on; I'd give you my pants, too, but I don't think it's a very good idea." He gave a weak giggle and walked over to the edge of the shed's roof, sitting on the edge and letting his feet dangle off it as he looked at the moon, deep in thought. Raven held his shirt and gloves, feeling the warmth trapped in them from Beast Boy's body seeping over her fingers. Then she walked over to him, grabbing her cloak.

"Beast Boy," she said softly, sitting next to him. "You are weird, but not for the reasons you think. You're weird because you're always so kind to a grouch like me. No matter how mean I am to you, you never stop being nice. You get mad every now and then and say things that are hurtful, but they're all true, and you apologize for them anyway. I can beat you over the head with a bat and call you a moron and you'd just laugh it off. Why are you so kind all the time? I never gave you any reason to be." She handed him his clothes back, watching while he put them back on and smiled at her.

"Because I respect you," he replied with a shrug. "You've been through so much, with your dad and your emotions and everything. But you still manage to keep it all in check. That's more than I could ever do. And, ah," he mumbled, squinting at some far-off star, "I like being nice to you." Raven smiled softly. "Hey!" Beast Boy said, smiling. "I saw that! You smiled; it's not impossible!"

"And I meant it, too," she joked. Beast Boy fell backwards, laughing in surprise. Raven quickly controlled herself, realizing that the power of the swell of emotion could easily take out the whole Tower. She looked back out at the moonlight reflecting off the ocean, waiting for Beast Boy to sit back up. When he didn't, she distractedly turned to see why not and found that he was looking at her thoughtfully.

"I saw that, too," he said quietly. "I'm sorry; I should know better by now. Does it hurt? When you want to be happy, but can't let yourself?" Raven sighed and laid back beside him, putting her hands behind her head.

"Not really," she replied, searching the stars for Orion's Belt again. "I can still be happy, it just has to be short-lived and controlled. But it does make me a little sad, because it means that I can't show people that they've made me happy. But I also have to be careful about being angry and depressed and-" Beast Boy cut her off with a sudden kiss, quickly capturing her lips with his. It was small and short, but left Raven speechless. Beast Boy sat up again, bright red, staring with amazing concentration at the moon again. Raven slowly sat up, surprised beyond emotion. She was amazingly, overwhelmingly happy, but it was still numb in shock.

Beast Boy gave a small, forced chuckle. "So I guess the feeling isn't mutual." Raven just sat there. Finally, Beast Boy stood up, and, turning into a hawk again, glided back down to the Tower roof. He didn't know why he was running away, he just knew that he couldn't bear it. He couldn't stand to hear Raven's cold remarks that would come after the awkward silence, which was equally as hard. He couldn't stand to listen to her apologize and tell him that she liked his as a comrade, a fellow Titan.

As a friend.

When he landed he turned into a mouse, scrabbling into a corner. There he relaxed, letting his small nose twitch in this way and that, picking up the scents of the night as he thought about what had just occurred. He could not believe what he had just done. _He had kissed Raven!_ Without warning, or consent, or even incentive! He had kissed her, without knowing if she wanted to be kissed, or if she felt the same way he did, or even if she liked him at all. Beast Boy mentally beat himself about the head repetitively, wishing he could do it physically. Now they would both spend the entire night in awkward silence, while poor, strong, sweet Raven froze in the cold and Beast Boy huddled shaking in a corner. It was going to be a long night.

Suddenly, Beast Boy was swept away in a squeak as hands came out of nowhere and picked him up. Abruptly he found himself looking at Raven, who was now an extreme amount larger than he. Quickly he scrabbled to get away, but Raven gripped him firmly, though she was careful not to hurt him. Eventually he gave up and went limp in her grasp. Raven sat down and crossed her legs, placing her cloak in her lap. Then she put Beast Boy on top of her cloak and surrounded him with cupped hands.

"Now," she said carefully, "You get to listen to what I have to say. First of all, it's no fair surprising me like that when I could have accidentally destroyed the whole Tower. Secondly, it's not polite to run away like that when I'm still in shock. And last, of _course_ the feeling's mutual, Beast Boy, otherwise I would have slapped you!" Beast Boy the Mouse looked to see her smiling down at him. With a happy squeak, he turned back into himself without thinking, and found himself sitting Raven's lap as a boy.

Not caring, he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug, smiling as broadly as ever before. Raven wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.

"Beast Boy, you idiot," she said, her voice muffled in his shirt. "Why'd you run away like that? It took me forever to find you; I thought you'd flown off the Tower or something. I thought I'd never be able to tell you you were wrong, that I do feel that way about you. You just surprised me, and I didn't know what to say. Even my powers were put in shock." Beast Boy put a hand on the back of her head, smiling softly to himself as he looked at the beautiful stars above.

"I'm sorry," he replied gently. "I was just so embarrassed; I didn't mean to kiss you, it's just that you looked so sad, and you were so beautiful, I couldn't help it. I've been trying to suppress my feelings for you for ages, because I thought for sure you wouldn't feel the same. I don't know what got into me." Raven sat back up, sniffling; she had started crying silently without Beast Boy even noticing. He got out of her lap, and they stood up together.

"Beast Boy," Raven said timidly, wiping her eyes, "Did you really mean that? Do you think I'm beautiful?" He smiled and grabbed her around the waist, spinning her in circles until they were both dizzy. Then he set her back down, and smiled at her. Looking into his eyes, she smiled back, knowing that she hadn't ever needed to ask him that question. Slowly, Beast Boy lowered his lips to hers again, still holding her in his arms. Raven put her own arms back around his neck and raised her own lips to meet his. As they met, Raven felt happier than ever before. Beast Boy's lips were soft, warm, and sincere, and he held her carefully but firmly, like precious china. When Beast Boy shyly opened his lips and slid his tongue across them to meet hers, she felt like nothing could possibly go wrong, not while she was in his arms. It was like an exquisite pain; she was caught somewhere between the euphoria of being in his arms and kissing him, and the grief that came when she thought of how it could not last forever. Finally they broke apart, and Beast Boy held her to him as tightly as he could, as if he never wanted to let her go.

"Raven," he said softly; Raven could feel his breath in her ear, sending tingles down her spine.

"Hm?"

"Yes. You are beautiful. You are beautiful, intelligent, talented, strong, sincere, sweet, and all around _amazing_. So why would you want someone like me?"

Raven pulled away from him to look sadly into his eyes. "I don't," she replied, sighing. When Beast Boy bit his lip and tried to back away, she grabbed his arm with her right hand and turned his face to look at her again with her left. "I don't want the Beast Boy that refuses to admit he is wonderful. I don't want the Beast Boy that thinks he's too weird to be liked, too lame to be funny, too green to be handsome. I want the real Beast Boy. The Beast Boy that is handsome, and strong, smart, funny, kind, and patient. The one that spent a whole two hours trying to get me to smile just because he wanted to see it. The one that was so embarrassed and scared of what I'd say that he ran away after kissing me. The one that just spun me around in circles and kissed me again. The one that makes me feel like I can be normal; like I'm alive. Don't take that away from me, Beast Boy." _Crap,_ she thought dejectedly, feeling the tears welling in her eyes once more. _I'm crying again._

Beast Boy took her face in his hands and kissed her lightly. "I'm so sorry," he said, pulling her into him again. "Please, Raven, don't cry. I like it so much better when you smile. Please don't cry; I'll be as arrogant as you want, I swear." Raven gave a hiccupping giggle and wrapped her arms around him again. They stood like that for a long time, Beast Boy gently stroking her hair, Raven snuggling into his chest. When they began to fall asleep standing up, they made their way back to the roof of the shed in silence. Once there, they laid on the metal roof, and suddenly neither of them were cold any longer.

As they snuggled together under the stars and moon, Raven found true happiness. Happiness that did not create geysers in rock or destroy buildings so thoroughly that they left only ash behind. She found happiness that stayed inside, warming her cold heart with thoughts of Beast Boy. Beast Boy led her playfully to the center of the shed's roof, smiling mysteriously. Then he lay down on his back, staring up at the stars. Raven followed suit, lying beside him on her side. She rested her head on his shoulder as he put an arm behind her neck, curling it around her shoulder. She laid her arm across his chest, clasping his other hand in hers. Her leg came up to rest over his, and he allowed his chin to rest against her hair. Then she used her powers to drape her cloak over their bodies, for extra warmth. After one last good-night kiss, they began to fall asleep again. And, almost too quietly for him to hear her, Raven whispered one last thing before falling into the clutches of utter unconsciousness.

"I've always loved you, Beast Boy. And I always will."

Hello! Thank you for reading my _Teen Titans_ fanfiction. This is the first oneshot I have written, so please be gentle with reviews. Not _too_ gentle, of course; I want to have a very fair and helpful review sheet. As you may already know, this is only the second fanfiction I have posted; the other is my FFX 3-chapter fanfiction (which, of course, you should read as well ). Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for sticking with it until the end, and please review! I need all the help I can get XD. Arigatou!


End file.
